Sales tax return has now restricted to one page: Shabbar Zaidi

Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Shabbar Zaidi on Wednesday said that the time has come for us now to stand on our feet.

The FBR chairman was talking to newsmen after addressing convention of the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP) in Karachi.

Shabbar Zaidi said that the work has started now in an organized manner and in a correct direction.

A staggering amount of 120 billion dollars was illegally transferred to foreign countries from Pakistan, he said.

Talking on facilitation to taxpayers, FBR chairman said that the taxpayers should be given facility of the cash transfer.

Taxpayers can also open foreign currency accounts, he said.

Replying a question he said that the number of income tax filers has crossed the limit of 2.5 million.

He said the taxation authority will make the process of filing tax returns further easier in coming days.

Sales tax return has now been restricted to one page, Zaidi said.

He said implementation of the National Identity Card (NIC) condition is suspended till September.

Responding a question Zaidi said that tracing benami assets is not an easier task, the prime minister has issued strict orders for it, he said.

FBR chairman earlier addressed the MAP convention as the keynote speaker on the topic of “Business friendly tax regime, increasing the tax net and documentation of economy.”

Muhammad Shabbar Zaidi had inaugurated a new software called Centralized Sales Tax & FED Assessment & Processing (CSTAP) to effectively monitor the sales tax returns.

This software is inaugurated at FBR Headquarters which is developed by IR-Operations Wing of FBR.

The purpose of the software is to identify the tax gaps and to determine actual Sales Tax/ FED liabilities of all taxpayers.

The Chairman FBR was given live demonstration on the working and application of the new software by Ms. Seema Shakeel, Member IR-Operations.

This software will also be used for the purpose of expeditious processing of refund claims.

The Chairman FBR was also informed that first batch of 25 officers from field formations are given task to test run this project from 11th September 2019.

However, after successful test run of this project, the same shall be made available to all field formations throughout the country.